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University of Buckingham - MA United Nations Studies
University of Buckingham - MA United Nations Studies
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Stephanie Fillion

Stéphanie Fillion is a New York-based reporter specializing in foreign affairs and human rights who has been writing for PassBlue regularly for a year, including co-producing UN-Scripted, a new podcast series on global affairs through a UN lens. She has a master's degree in journalism, politics and global affairs from Columbia University and a B.A. in political science from McGill University. Fillion was awarded a European Union in Canada Young Journalists fellowship in 2015 and was an editorial fellow for La Stampa in 2017. She speaks French, English and Italian.

SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Tunisia, Delicately Straddling the Politics of North Africa and the Mideast

January 6, 2021 
by Stéphanie Fillion
Ambassador Tarek Ladeb
It’s become the origin story of Tunisia’s revolution and the broader Arab Spring: In December 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, set himself on fire after years of being harassed by police officers and experiencing a series of humiliating encounters with local officials. His self-immolation became the focus of long-simmering anger toward the …

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

South Africa, Bringing the Continent Inside the Security Council

December 3, 2020 
by Stéphanie Fillion
In the last hurrah of its two-year term, South Africa happens to be president of the Security Council in December, so it is making the most of its final month by holding a debate on the all-important United Nations-African Union relationship. South Africa is also chairing the African Union this year, until February 2021, …

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Hey, Biden-Harris Team, What About the UN?

November 17, 2020 
by Stéphanie Fillion
President-elect Joe Biden’s first message to fellow world leaders was clear: America is back. But there’s a glaring omission in his foreign policy plan: the United Nations. After four years of the Trump administration’s defunding and leaving UN organizations and agreements, the United States’ relationship with the UN is ripe for revival. But what, …

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MA United Nations Studies

The UN Warns Personnel About Potential Violence in the US but Is Silent on the Election Itself

November 4, 2020 
by Stéphanie Fillion
President Trump, at about 2 A.M. on Nov. 4, 2020
The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has so far remained silent on the United States Nov. 3 presidential election, despite concerns about possible violence in the country and President Trump having prematurely proclaimed victory. Indeed, the UN warned its personnel at New York headquarters to be prepared for “civil unrest” that may occur over …

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

The Smallest State to Ever Lead the UN Security Council: St. Vincent and the Grenadines

November 2, 2020 
by Stéphanie Fillion
Inga Rhonda King
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines may be the smallest country to ever sit on the Security Council, but it doesn’t mean it is intimidated by the big powers. Instead, the island nation is already amplifying the voices of Africa and the Caribbean in the UN forum. “I think that what the small state does …

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MA United Nations Studies

The UN’s 12th Nobel Peace Prize: Our Latest Podcast Episode

October 16, 2020 
by Stéphanie Fillion  and  Kacie Candela
David Beasley, the head of the World Food Program
Clair MacDougall was reporting on a follow-up story for PassBlue about Lieut. Col. Carlos Moisés Guillén Alfaro, the first official United Nations peacekeeper to die of Covid-19, when on Oct. 9 she heard that the World Food Program was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and that its executive director, David Beasley, was in town, so she …

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Russia Brings Human Contact Back to the UN Security Council

October 4, 2020 
by Stéphanie Fillion
From the very moment that the United Nations decided to work online, after the pandemic hit, Russia has been the strongest and loudest opponent of going virtual at the world body. For its Security Council presidency, in October, Russia finally got its way: the Council will be meeting once again in its chamber, sitting …

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UN75

The Dos and Don’ts of Digital Diplomacy in the Covid-19 World

September 24, 2020 
by Stéphanie Fillion
President Stevo Pendarovski of North Macedonia
The first-ever virtual General Assembly session has been full of both challenges and opportunities: the risks of technical problems were high (and some have happened), but the opportunities for global leaders to stand out individually in their pre-recorded video speeches turned out to be greater than speaking in the cavernous General Assembly Hall. While …

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MA United Nations Studies
TOPIC: WOMEN

How Long Do You Have to Wait to Hear a Woman at the UNGA? 53 Speakers, to Be Exact

September 10, 2020 
by Stéphanie Fillion
President Zuzana Caputova of Slovakia
The first woman scheduled to speak at this year’s opening session of the United Nations General Assembly is 53rd on the list of about 119 heads of state — President Zuzana Caputova of Slovakia — delivering her remarks on Sept. 23. The day before, the first of the big gathering, will not feature any …

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Niger Brings the Voice of the Sahel Into the UN Security Council

September 1, 2020 
by Stéphanie Fillion
Niger hasn’t been a member of the Security Council for almost 40 years, and now that it has a voice on one of the world’s most visible platforms, it intends to use it to build more alliances with influential world powers while furthering a regional agenda. September will require Niger, a landlocked country in …

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Throwing Light on the UN’s Counterterrorism World, Funded Mainly By the Saudis and Qataris

August 24, 2020 
by Stéphanie Fillion
For years, Saudi Arabia has been playing a heavy-handed role in the work of United Nations counterterrorism through its financial contributions, even as the country’s own history of funding of terrorism is problematic. Some officials who work or have worked in the UN’s counterterrorism operations denounce their lack of transparency and shudder at how …

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MA United Nations Studies
COVID-19

Lebanon’s Crisis on Top of a Crisis: Our Latest Podcast Episode

August 17, 2020 
by Stéphanie Fillion  and  Kacie Candela
The devastating series of explosions that rocked Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on Aug. 4, killed nearly 200 people, injured thousands of others, destroyed most of the city’s port, flattened surrounding neighborhoods, damaged six hospitals and more than 20 health clinics and wiped out 120 schools. Five days later, on Aug. 9, the international …

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Indonesia’s Legacy in the Security Council: Daring to Save Lives

August 3, 2020 
by Stéphanie Fillion
A big power in Southeast Asia and a middle power globally, Indonesia plays a “bridge builder” role in the United Nations Security Council, it says. It’s a strategy that is getting harder and harder to embody, however, with rising tensions among the five big powers in the Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the …

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